Documentary of Vernon Ah Kee – Aboriginal Artist "Black Fella"

After watching this documentary of Vernon Ah Kee he brought up some very interesting things that I wanted to discuss more.

Vernon Ah Kee talks about his art, “the art I make is about my life and experiences in this country as a black fella.” I found it interesting that he refers to himself as a 'black fella' as I always thought this was a disrespectful way to address an Aboriginal Person and if a 'White Australian' ever referred to and Aboriginal Person as this they would get rather offended so why is it ok for an Aboriginal person to reffer to another as a 'back fella' but a White Australian cant? 

I believe that White Australians tip toe around Aboriginal People as they feel they are at risk of offending someone or being disrespectful. I must admit writing this blog and it being avaliable to anyone to read I am extremely cautious how I refer to the Indigenous People and feel that even if I am being as careful as I can be (not having much background in Indigenous studies makes it hard as I am not 100% sure how or what is the correct way to refer to the Aboriginal people) I still may offend someone who is reading. I believe this is why so may 'White Australians' shy away from experiencing relationships with Aboriginal people, I know I do.

This leads me to something else I am not totally comfortable with, which is discussing the Aboriginal Art, Design and Culture, talking about how they are treated etc because I don't have a specialisation or much knowledge at all about Aboriginal Culture, Design, Art or History, I feel I have no right to discuss any of this. I feel that everything I am discussing is incorrect and because I can not talk from experience or a wealth of knowledge so I should not speak at all.

After discussing the way we should address the Aboriginal People with a small group in class an interesting point came up about how Indigenous Australians are from specific nations and how in some instances it's appropriate to refer to ourselves in relation to this. We then talked about how we would refer to ourselves precisely and how majority of 'White Australians' are dissented from many other nationalises. How do I refer to myself precisely then being a 'White Australian'?

Akayan, Danielle. Australian Broadcasting Company (ABC). Message Stick: Born In This Skin, Produced by Douglas Watkin. 27 min. 19/04/2009. DVD